Home, happy and exhausted

Yesterday husband and I enjoyed the wedding of a good friend of his from HS. Interestingly enough, he married a girl that went to MY high school, and we are from Long Island so there are lots of schools and people!

The wedding was very nice, and I even got to catch up with some people who I have known since elementary school :)

Post wedding, we headed back to Ryan's mom's house and met up with Kristin and Matt who had entertained the tribe all afternoon with pizza and swimming. We decided that it would be best of we did the hell drive back at night so the kids didn't have to spend the whole day trapped in a car again. We planned to go to dinner in Port Jeff with Ry's mom, brothers, Kristin and his friend Erik then leave straight from there. Dinner was hell as it took TWO HOURS to get the food (and it was wings, burgers, etc) so my poor babies were so tired and hungry and barely even ate when the food was served at 11 pm!

After dinner, we made a potty stop, loaded the sad tired kids in the car and took off. I ended up driving all but the last two hours (and remember I slept only 3 hours the night before) and handed over the keys when I couldn't see straight anymore. Three hours of sleep in a 48 hour period is just not fun.

We got home at 6 am and everyone went to bed for a bit. I got up at 9:30, woke Ryan and went to pick up the dog at the boarders, dropped her off, went and picked up the CSA (more on that later), then had to go BACK to the boarders since she gave me back the wrong medicine for Rosie, then to the grocery store and whew, then home.

Now I am wiped and going to lay down for an hour on the couch. I still need to cook dinner, switch laundry and write a paper, and then I am in bed EARLY!!!

Grades

You know what rocks?

When you blow off an assignment because you are at the beach on vacation, knowing full well that it would mean you only get a B+ in the class....and then you check your grade and find out you got the A anyway.

Woooooohooooo

In NY

We made it to NY, although it was a LOOOOOOOOOOONG NINE HOUR CAR RIDE!!!

Needless to say, by the end of the trip, we were all falling apart. I was in tears, Grayson was screaming, Britt was whining and Haven was sulking. Good times for all!

We made it to Ryan's friends house, and I think we were overwhelming him a bit. I suggested I take the kids to Ryan's mom's house, and sometime around 11 pm, we got there and settled in. I couldn't seem to fall asleep and was up until after 4:30 am, and was not thrilled when Gray woke at 8. Now the kids need to eat, I NEED coffee and we need to pretty up for a noon wedding.

I cannot express to anyone just how thrilled I will be when I lay in my bed Monday night. Tuesday I will need to get up early and get the dog, and we will need to go to the farm to get milk, but that will be all and I will be happy to stay home for awhile.

Sea, sand, sun and sound

We are back home....for one night. The kid's had a blast on the beach trip, and they were so sad to have to come home. We enjoyed playing in the sand, watching kite surfers, splashing in the sound and the ocean. Tomorrow we begin stage two of the vacation, with a seven hour drive to NY. Ryan and I will be going to a wedding Sunday afternoon and the kids will hang with Uncle Matt and Kristin, probably at the aquarium or *GASP* THE BEACH!!!

The kids are total beach bums now, begging to head down to my parent's house ASAP, little do the folks know that the kids want to head to the beach at 8 am and home at dusk.

Off to write a paper and repack!

The best pic I could get

The kids were a bit excited, so this was the best I could do. At least I included the important elements, the kids and the ocean!

Five little ducks on their way to the beach

The sixth was behind me :)

Salty and sandy

On the right track

I knew we were onto something when we joined the CSA and got our meat direct from the source. Not only healthy, but now more economical too! Check this out

So everyone knows, we MADE IT!!

We are here at the beach all settled in. We spent today at the beach in the morning and the pool in the afternoon. The kids are having fun, although they were up really late last night and are a bit overtired today.

Pictures and videos to come...tomorrow we go to Ocracoke Island, which should be lots of fun.

Whew, off to prep dinner for the growups :)

Tomorrow we go!

The big day is upon us, tomorrow we leave for our trip!

We are almost ready to go, Ryan just needs to pack himself up. Tomorrow I will drop the dog off an run a few last minute errands, set the cats up (our neighbor is checking on them) pack the cold food into the cooler and pack the car. My goal is to be on the road by noon, at the beach by dinner time. We plan to lay low, mostly hanging at the beach or the pool, maybe a quick outing or two. Then we head home Friday, and are back on the road on Saturday to drive to NY for a wedding. Then home on Monday. Whew, it will be busy and fun and we are all so excited it is VACATION TIME!!!

Back in the berries

So since I, ahem, cannot blog about what "we" have to do, I figured I would blog about what I did do.

Today we ventured to the farm for milk, eggs, yogurt and berries. The plants were sparse, and it took some work, but we got five more pounds of strawberries. Emily took some of the more firm ones home for her kids to eat, and I packed up two bags to be frozen. When we get home, I will make those into about 12 jars of jam, yumm!

Rush rush rush

I feel like this week is barreling by!

Today, as promised, I am taking the kids to lunch and the pool. We decided to go to the farm tomorrow as they have a special on pick your own strawberries ($1 a pound!) and the weather looks to be perfect tomorrow.

I am still not anywhere near packed, but I will start today when we get home from the pool. The Fallon kids will be here, so I am hoping they will entertain each other while I finish laundry and pack for Ryan and I. Tomorrow morning I will pack the kid's clothes, have my conference call and then we will head off to the farm. Thursday Haven has a riding lesson at 9:30, then we will go to Brittan's birthday party at noon, then home to finish getting ready for the trip. Friday, if husband will watch the kids, Emily and I can get the rest of the food we need, and I can get the car cleaned out and ready to go. Saturday morning I will pack the food, we will pack the car, drop the dog off and we will be on our way!

Cooperation and CSAs

So, today has not gone as planned. I had instructed the girls to clean their rooms yesterday, so that today we could have had a fun day. This morning I saw that the rooms were not only not clean, they were TRASHED. Needless to say, the outings were cancelled. Grayson is also upstairs napping because he couldn't say a single nice thing today, gotta love 3/4 year old boys!

We did however get to pick up our CSA stuff and had a surprise, blackberries! We also got some beautiful kale and cabbage. The cabbage has already been made into coleslaw to go with our BBQ chicken and beans tonight. The kale will be grilled and served with a vinaigrette, and the blackberries will grace our table tomorrow night when the Fallon kids are here for dinner. Tomorrow will be breakfast for dinner, sausage, eggs, biscuits, hash browns and fruit salad including those delicious blackberries.

Also in the haul were some herbs and bunch onions that will go into the vinaigrette, lettuce, chinese cabbage and my eggs. Tasty!

Hopefully today we can get started on packing, finish the laundry and a few other odds and ends. Tomorrow we need to go to lunch, the farm, I need to grab a few things in Fredericksburg, the pool and then the Fallon kiddos will be here while their parents are at a swanky event :) Wednesday I will clean the car, get extra litter boxes for the cats and get ready for Britt's party on Thursday. Friday we will finish packing, and Saturday we are off!! We will come back the following Friday, then Saturday morning leave for NY, returning on Monday. Whew!

Countdown

We are leaving for the beach in FIVE DAYS!!!

As we count down, I am also feeling a bit stressed about getting everything ready to go. I have some last minute things to do at the house... I need the house clean before we leave, I need to set the cats up, drop the dog off, get and pack the food, pack the kids and us, etc.

I am a list maker, so I have my lists ready to go!

Let the fun begin!

Trapped

As I have posted a lot lately, I have the itch to get out of Virginia. My job is one that I take with me, so I can live anywhere we want and still have the same income. Ryan is ready to leave his current position, but with the unstable market, he is just staying put since he knows he has job security. It kills me that we are sitting here wasting time just because of the housing prices. If this were one year ago, we could have sold our house, paid off a little debt and moved.

We are still planning to stay put until the doctorate is done, or close to it, but my fear is that two years will not be enough to fix the drop in housing. It just stinks as the kids are getting older, and I don't want to wait until they are in middle school or high school to move them. Haven would be in fifth grade in two years, and I think that is the best time for us to go, but housing has to get better. Soon right???!!!

The best Daddy ever!

My husband is by far the best daddy ever! Since the day we found out we were expecting Haven, to today when he is willing to indulge me in trying for #4, he is a dad who is always involved with the kiddos. He may not know everything that is going on, but he is the first to hang with the kids, play with them and I trust that he will guard them with his life. The kids adore him, and as we speak, he is following the treasure hunt the kids made up for him, even though he is exhausted and hungry. He makes the kids laugh, he was always there to rock them as babies, and he changed a mean diaper, and the kids and I know that he loves us all deeply.

My children are very lucky to have such different parents, I am more rigid and uptight and he is all about fun. They are very lucky to get a dad who loves them as much as he does.

Happy Father's Day!

Pears

When we bought this house, the previous owners told us that they had two pear trees in the front of the house. We have been here almost 5 years and never saw any pears, probably because the trees were planted in the shade and in the worst spot ever for fruit trees.

Today I was driving by the front of the house and I saw bulbs on the trees. Further inspection showed pears, lots of pears! They are a few weeks off from being harvested, but if they continue to grow we will have a ton of fresh pears to eat and can, right from the front yard!

Need an adventure

Ryan and I have long known that a deadline is approaching. We know that when my doctorate is done, we need to make choices about where we live and what we do, and it has been a source of excitement and stress. The deadline is still about two years away, but we have a few ideas on the table.

One is that I will look for a full time teaching position here and that we will stay in VA. That is great since the kids are happy here and we own a home, etc, but we really don't have much tying us to this area -except the Fallons of course.

The second choice is that I look for a FT teaching position somewhere else. The problem with this is, we are not sure I would make enough to support the whole family or if Ryan would easily be able to get a job. We are also not sure if we would be near friends and family, etc.

The last choice is that I go back to the corporate world, and teach on the side. My degree really is meant to be applied in the field, so this would be an asset for me when looking for a job. We know that the best place for me to work in NYC, so we are considering moving back up north if I find a job in the city. We are even thinking of living in the city for a year and think it would be a really neat experience for the kids! We also know that the NYC school system has lots of opportunities for our children, as do the cultural events, museums, etc. If we do this, Ryan will probably stay home with the kids and finish school.

Ah, the joy of the unknown!

School's out for summer!

Yesterday was the last day of school and I couldn't be more excited! Haven finished up second grade doing well, and Britt finished out kindergarten wonderfully!

We picked the kiddos up and headed to Busch Gardens for some last day of school fun with the Fallons. It was warm, but once I was soaked on the rapids....and again on the Log Flume, I wasn't hot at all!

The kids seemed to have fun too, only thing we need to do next time is see a show. Since we have season passes, we all know we will be back soon, so everyone was pretty good about waiting to try new things, etc.

The ride home went well, not a peep from Haven and Brittan except when they were thirsty. They all watched a movie, and Grayson kept trying to talk to us, but still it was a very nice ride.

All went well until Haven got up at 3 am and threw up! I think she is fine, she has a bad cold and I think it just made her reflux act up. She is doing well this morning, enjoying the first lazy day of summer, and I am just so happy that the beach trip is less than a week away!

New toy!

Husband's Father's Day gift came today, and of course I let him open it. We got a new Flip ultra camcorder

Ours is orange and I got the matching case for it, and it will be perfect for our beach trip!

Here is what happens around here when you play in the mud.

The stars are Grayson and Maggie...

Still kickin'

So Gray was up until 4 am last night, that is right 4 AM!!!!

He hadn't slept or napped in days and was just terrible, so off he went to bed last night at 6 pm. He woke around 10 and then stayed up until 4 am. Needless to say, I am just exhausted!

Nevertheless, I got up and made the girls lunch and got them off to school for field day. Then I spent 3 hours doing course checks, did the dishes, scrubbed the dining room, cleaned the bathroom and planted the last few things that needed to go into the ground. Husband has overhauled our bedroom and is working on the bathroom (hurray) and then I will shower and go see Dr. Tom and run a few errands.

I still have to unload the dishes and switch laundry, and then I think I will crash!

Buggers!!!!

Growing up on Long Island, my husband and I know all about fleas. Being that LI is mostly sand, fleas are a major issue and one that our families dealt with each and every spring and summer. Since moving to VA, we have never had any issues with fleas. I have always used the cheapy flea treatments you buy at those cheapy stores, and they worked just dandy. This year something went wrong.....

The cats don't go outside, but the dog does. The dog was treated with the normal cheapy thing in May, and a few weeks ago we noticed the kittens had some fleas. I bought them the cheapy treatment and treated the dog and all three cats. Well, three days later and still fleas, so we bathed them all in dish soap on the advice of the vet (that was NO fun)

Fast forward a few days and...they still have fleas. So we bought a spray and sprayed the, and then three days later we sprayed them again as instructed, sprayed the carpets etc. Now I hate pesticides, so it sucked having to spray.

So tonight I check the cats again, and I saw fleas again. Now they have never had A LOT, but if I see one or two, that is enough for me.

Tonight I sucked it up and order the really expensive treatments. I just spent $100 on treatments for all three cats and the dog. The stuff had great reviews and claim to kill adult fleas in a few hours, and will kill the buggers that are on the floor and jump on board. The only down side is I won't have this miracle treatment until Monday :(

Damn buggers!

Stop the ride!!!

I need a break, a true, laying down with nothing to do, no cleaning, no cooking, no running the household break. Britt had her awards today, and now as I sit here, I still must clean up from dinner, vacuum, switch laundry (and the clean pile has grown to scary heights again) and bake cookies for tomorrow.

I want to sit, drink coffee and watch a stupid movie, but I know that by the time I finish all that I have to do, it will be 9:30 and I will not want to watch a movie anymore. Tomorrow morning I have a course checks, which take a few hours, but class is almost over and I get a blessed FOUR weeks of no work!

Oh just get me to June 21st and the beach......

So proud I could burst

There are very few moments that my children make me so proud I could cry, and today was one of those days. Haven, my oldest, has struggled with reading and writing, and we are sure the child has dyslexia which has aided in the problem. This year it all clicked for her and she can read beautifully.

Today she had awards at her school, and in kindergarten and first grade she always won the kindness award, especially when dealing with any students who face challenges, including her friend K who is in a wheelchair. While Haven can be a lot to handle at home, she is always empathetic and tries to help anyone who needs it.

Today at school she earned the Super Reader Award for her class. I also saw that she and my middle child were in the top 10 for their grade level in reading points. For Haven, this award meant she has come full circle and is finally able to work through the challenges she faced and is able to show her true potential. I knew that she would be getting this award before I went in, and was so proud, but then she earned another award. Haven and two classmates earned a special award from central office given to children who help those in the special ed program, such as K. She was nominated for this award by a number of teachers, and it made be so proud that she could be so kind and giving. We were given copies of the nomination letters and it was so amazing to see all of the kind words spoken about my girl.

While she can be my most difficult at home, I know that when she is out in the world, she is really a spectacular kid.

Rough nights

Soooooo


No sleep for the weary.

Seems Grayson has the cold that has been going around, and with him, it makes his asthma pretty bad. We will be starting breathing treatments today, hopefully keep him healthy before the big trip.

It should be pretty exciting today when we go see Haven get her award.

The day picked up

So, Em told me to blow off the training, that the little money I would get from tutoring at this place wasn't worth the time and effort. I am going to see about tutoring some local high school students, much more profitable and a better use of time.

The kids played ok this afternoon, and my husband had a really nice gift card to Sur la Table, so I can o spend like crazy and not feel bad. We also had ice cream cake, and the kids sang, although Gray was a phrase behind.

Now I just need a quiet night and all will be right with the world!

Not off to a good start

So far, not off to a good start. Last night the power went out for a little while, and then Gray was up and down all night, and then I started to get hit with the cold going around. When we got up this morning, I was already exhausted, plus no one in my family bothered to wish me a happy birthday. Now I need to go and bring the girls to school, come home and water the gardens (since it will be 100 degrees today) and switch the laundry. Then I will drive to pick up the CSA stuff, maybe take Em up on her offer for lunch, then off to training for 2 1/2 hours. Lucky, lucky me.

33

Tomorrow is my birthday and I will be 33. Big whoop. Know what I have to do? I have to pick up my CSA stuff, see Dr. Tom and go to training. yippee.

The simple tasks

Having three kids, 8 and under, simple tasks become HUGE!!

We have had a growing pile of clean laundry to fold. It had grown to take over the loveseat in the living room, so this morning I decided to start folding. I seperated half of the clothes into parents and kids and then folded all the kids clothes. The next step should have been easy, put the clothes away, but now that we have switched into summer, I needed to clean out all of their dressers and drawers. So this simple task turned into an ordeal, complete with closet reorganization, toy clean up and Space Bags!

Now I plan to feed the kiddos lunch, and take them over to the pool. Then when we get home, I will fold the OTHER half of kids clothes and the girls will put them away. Then I can tackle the rest of the dirty laundry :)

A good cup of Joe

When I asked Ryan for my own coffee roaster for Christmas, I never knew just how much I would enjoy roasting my own beans. Even though it makes the house a little smokey and smelly (so says Ry, I like the smell) I love the freshness of the coffee, and that I can control how deep the roast is.

As I have been trying different beans, I have found that I really enjoy a dark roast coffee. Prior to roasting my own, I never liked the taste of dark roasts, they were always bitter or burnt tasting. Now I know that the beans I used before were either old, or over roasted, dry or stale. Nothing compares to a roasting a batch of beans and making a fresh cup of coffee, it is by far the best tasting coffee I have ever had in my life. I encourage all coffee drinkers to buy a small home roaster (mine was only about $80). The green beans are cheaper, and usually free trade organic, and so much better than the roasted beans you find in the store. Roast in small batches, I do under a lb, and enjoy a cup of coffee as it should be.

Feelin' HOT

It is really warm today, and looks like it will near 100 degrees. The whole family had a busy day, the kiddos and I loaded into the car and drove Brittan to her birthday part. While we were in Fredericksburg, we got gas, for ONLY 3.76 a gallon! Being that it is about 3.93 here in our town, I was happy to get the cheaper price. We dropped Britt off and then ran to grab the kids some lunch. Off to the farm to get milk, as we were alomost out and I can't pick up our milk order until Wednesday. Back to get Britt and then home to see hubby who was sweating outside replacing the dryer vent cover. Then Gray and I took off for the grocery store to grab some things for dinner.

Now I need to do some grading and make dinner. The kids voted for homemade mac and cheese and grilled BBQ chicken sandwiches with cheddar cheese and of course salad.

I have to say, I was very happy when we were at the grocery store and the things my kid begged for were bananas and cucumbers.

Sleepy Awareness

Husband let me sleep in a bit today, which is really good since I haven't recovered from Grayson's middle of the night conversations last week. I woke up and the house was messy (really messy) and the kids running around, and toys strewn about. What I realized in that moment was that if I had been up first, the house would have been cleaned, but that would have been the only difference. While my husband has the avility to push each and every OCD button I have, he is a great dad and he really was nice lettin me sleep. I will need to vacuum and do the dishes, wipe the table and dress the kids before we leave in two hours to take Britt to a party, but I am thankful I got a little extra sleep and that he got up and made the kids a hot breakfast and made sure they were happy.

Antsy Pantsy

Everyone few months I get really antsy. I start thinking about moving, or a new job, or during bad times, a new husband :)

I like the area we live in enough, and I can see why lots of people love living here, good schools, amenities, etc. To me, it is all very BLAH. I feel like we live in limbo, not the north, not the south. Being that Ryan has sworn never to move south, I guess that means we will someday look to head back north. We live close to DC, but I really don't like it there. I am not sure if it is because I don't feel comfortable getting around, or that I am not sure where things are, but I really don't enjoy going into DC to spend time. Last summer when we were in NYC with my family, I really enjoyed showing the kids "my" city. Having grown up so close, and spent so much time there both playing and working, I am very comfortable in NYC. If we lived within an hour of there, I would bring the kids in all the time, as I know my way and feel happy when I am there.

So where does this leave us? Right now we are trapped here, the housing market is so bad that we couldn't move if we needed to. I have two more years on the doctorate, and we hope the market is better around the same time I am done. I have two big choices when we are able to move again, do I look for a job in education or corporate America? Obviously the later will pay significantly more, but a job in education is much better for my soul. I guess time will tell. I am not opposed to working in NYC again in the future, although we would buy a house upstate. Ah the joys of planning a life, good thing I have time.

Hanging in there

The weather situation here in Virginia is crazy. It seems we live with a constant threat of severe weather, and I am very tired after a night of watching for storms and avoiding flooding the house.

I hope we have warm weather the next few days and minimal rain so we can dry out a bit. Enough is enough with the weather!

Too much to do, too little time

I am just feeling swamped.

On the bright side, I received my performance review today and it was really great. My boss had a lot of nice things to say, and it made my day.

Also, my birthday is on Monday, no big plans so tell the band not to come.

Pool was a bust

Never fails, just when you think you have all your ducks in a row....the cosmos messes with you!

I left to pick the kids up at school. That means Gray and I got in the pickup line at about 10 to 3, the kids came out at 3:30, I gave them juice boxes and snacks. I had the girl's bathing suits ready to go, they could change at Dr Tom's, all the towels and toys were neatly packed and dinner was ready to be finished at home. When we were almost to Dr Tom's (which took forever, damn construction) Em called and said the pool was closed :(

The kids were sad, but we went to Em's and they played in teh sprinkler and had popsicles, so it wasn't all bad. Then it only took 20 minutes to get home (it is only 6 miles or so) Then rush and finish dinner and throw the kids in the bath.

I am sleepy now.

Water babies

OK, so not to beat a dead horse, but Gray didn't sleep well again last night. Oh well.

We had a good morning, got some things done, went to pick up CSA and I know Haven will be thrilled as there are sugar snap peas in the bag today! Gray napped in the car, which is a good thing since I am picking Haven, Brittan and Declan up from school to go to the pool. I love when we hit summer, everyone's mood improves and it feels so free!! This i why I keep considering homeschooling, I think my kids would really enjoy the time at home and the more flexible schedule!

So now I am quickly making chicken parm so that I can leave it in the warm oven while we swim. Then when we get home, all I have to do is make the pasta and toss a salad and we are ready to eat. Summer rocks!

Mud is only good for wrestling

So we had a nice day. I didn't get all of the things I needed to done, but instead I took the kids to get new pool toys and to the pool with Emily, her mom and the kiddos. We had fun, went back to Em's house so the kids could horse around a bit more, Declan beat me at a Guitar Hero battle (watch it kid, I am going to practice and come back and beat you!!) then home. I had a nice dinner all planned, steaks on the grill, twice baked loaded potatoes, corn on the cob and salad. Then the skies opened and it POURED. I waited a bit, seemed the rain passed, started the grill. Just when I needed to put the steaks on, the skies opened again, and as the good wife and mother, I ventured out. The problem was that the mud was slick and I slipped and wrenched the hell out of my back. Thankfully Ryan came and saved the day, he cooked the steaks and served the kids and gave me tylenol for my back. Tomorrow morning before getting the CSA, I will see Dr Tom. Damn mud!

General updates

OK, just a few quick updates on what we have been up to!

We now have found all the kittens new homes with the exception of the two little guys we are keeping. We have kept an all gray striped kitten named Tuesday and a wild gray and white male fluff ball named Jacks, and of course mama cat Helicopter! This brings the animal count in the house even with the people, 1 huge Newfoundland (Rosie), a hamster (Sammy) and the three cats!

The garden looks like it is going well, nice flowers on my squash and zucchini, tomatoes in the main garden seem to have come back since the floods, the cukes are looking betterm beans and peas are growing strong, and carrots and one set of lettuce look great. The eggplant is still really small, but I am hopeful. The side garden was pretty washed out, but I do have some pumpkins growing and I put the sweet potato plants in the ground, so we wil see. I have more acorn squash and butternut squash seeds that I will put in the ground as we have a really long season and they are fall bearers. I also bought the kiddos a watermelon plant, although I have no idea where I will plant it! Maybe where the potatoes washed away :)

The bucket graveyard will go up next week, 5 tomato plants, i pepper...for now. These will live in a sunny patch in front of the playroom, near the side garden. Herbs are growing out back, and I am getting ready to start a new set of herbs in the aerogarden.

Haven's birthday has passed, Brittan's is next in July. We are planning a party for her in June so that kids from school can attend as well. She chose Chuck E Cheese...oh well, it is her party :)

My birthday is just around the corner (6/9) but as usual, I am not planning to do too much. It is a Monday, so Ryan has to work, and it is the last week of school for the girls. I am happy to take the trip to NC at the end of the month (and all of the new clothes I ordered for the trip) as my present :)

I may be addicted

I located some more big buckets, so I will be making more upside down tomato and pepper plants. The side of our yard will look like a bucket graveyard, but I don't care as long as I get lots and lots and lots of tomatoes!

There are days filled with joy too

Today we had a busy and fun Saturday. I ran a quick errand with Haven this morning and then we all loaded up to go to Brittan's last soccer game of the season. Of course we met up with the Fallons at the game and the kids had fun at the game, even though it was really, REALLY HOT!

After Britt and Killi got their trophies, we all went to lunch together. Now six kids at lunch can be difficult, but even with the occasional whining or disgruntled child, lunch was still fun and everyone filled their bellys.

Now we are home and Haven is slaving away at the table working on a random craft and Britt and Gray are watching a movie together. Rain is moving in so we will have a quiet evening, a simple dinner of sandwiches and salads, and hopefully a restful night. Now if I could get Gray to sleep through it!!

These are the best days, we will never have a day where everyone is happy all day, but the days when we mostly all get along, and we are able to spend time together as a family, these are the days I love!

Dr. Oatmeal

Grayson really has cute moments, even at almost 4. He is walking around with his toy telescope and wearing sunglasses telling us his name is Dr Oatmeal (or Ooutmeal as he says) He is a funny, funny little man, very creative, always playing pretend and sweet to boot. He's a good egg.

I am not leaving

I am staying home today. I don't care if we need or want anything, I REFUSE to leave this house. I made the holes in the last three tomato buckets and will plant them today. I need to fold clothes and push through some laundry. I am hoping the husband will clean the bathroom, but I am not holding my breath. Tonight we will have spiced chicken enchiladas, which reminds me that I need to get the chicken cooking. I slow cook chicken thighs, then add chilis, onions, spices etc. Layer chicken and cheddar cheese with tortillas, cover with enchilada sauce (red) and bake off. Serve with rice and a huge crisp salad :)

Happy Friday!

Over scheduled

So many kids today are over scheduled. I know what I am talking about since I had poor Haven over scheduled in kindergarten and first grade with dance. Now I see the error of my ways, and discovered that having my kids in a million activities does not make me a better mother. Actually I find the more we spend time together and I show the kids how to run a house, draw an elephant, plant a plant, etc is more valuable to their growth and education. Haven is not always the most pleasant child, but I still would rather her spend time at home (crabby and all) then be ferried to a million activities to get rid of her. She does have things she does, but she doesn't need to be in all the sports, all the clubs and all the groups. Kids need play time, and with school days getting longer, and the large amount of homework that kids need to do, they barely have time to eat dinner and take a bath, let alone play or GOG FORBID, do CHORES!!

If the world would allow kids to be kids, to teach them responsibility and how to work as a team within the family, I think our kids would do better in school and be generally happier.

Just my two cents.

I have a TV accent

I have always said I have a TV accent, pretty odd for having been raised on Long Island with a mom from Staten Island and a dad from Rockaway. Em had this quiz on her blog and I was curious to see my results.


Lo and behold.....

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The South
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Northeast
The West
North Central
Boston
What'>http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have">What American accent do you have? Quiz'>http://www.gotoquiz.com/">Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Score!

I scored 5 2.5 gallon buckets with lids, and one 5 gallon bucket with a lid. These will now be used to grow upside down tomatoes (5) and an upside down pepper. We currently have 10 tomato plants in the back, 5 jerseys and 5 yellow plum. I will be putting the upside tomatoes up front and will be growing cherries and beefsteaks. I am really hoping to put up at least 20 jars of tomatoes, the more the merrier!

I lied

Today will notbe relaxing and quiet.

I have already hauled the kids to school and picked up the dehydrator, done the dishes and vacuumed and done some work work. I have a conference call in an hour, but before that I need to trellis my beans and cage my tomatoes. While on the call, I am hoping to get another batch of jam made and work on the freezer strawberries (husband is not helping much). After the call, husband has to run a few errands including picking up supples for Haven's project which needs to be completed tonight. I am guessing Gray and I wll go with him so that I can get the supplies we need. Then home to fold clothes and work on a massive work project due tomorrow as well as write a paper and cook dinner. No biggie right.

Another day down...

OK, I am now super tired. We took the girls to school, then did some things around the house. A quick run into the store for more canning jars, lunch and the farm. A stop at Dr. Tom's and then home to vacuum and bake a sponge cake for dessert. Dinner is ready to go in the oven, shrimp stuffed with crabmeat, rice and salad. I have to do the dishes, work, and help Haven with a project. Also on the agenda tonight, hull the rest of the berries and freeze the firm ones, and put the others aside to be made into jam tomorrow.

Ry took off tonight (hooray!) so I will have some help and some company :) Tomorrow morning I need to drop my girlies at school and then go pick up a food dehydrator...gotta love Freecycle. Tomorrow will be a quiet at home day, with jam cooking, strawberry bread baking and laundry.

Success!

Jam and compote all canned up!

Delicious

Ahead of the curve

Who knew that we were trendy?

With the nasty economy, I am seeing reports that more and more suburban homesteads cropping up. We of course seek to eventually move to more land so that we can run a true homestead, but as it stands now, we make due with what we have.

We are close to the nation's capital, on .77 acres, most of which is taken up by house and trees. We have worked to adapt our small backyard area to grow food. We will also be using part of the front yard to grow upside down tomatoes to help supplement the ones in the back. We joined a CSA. We buy dairy and meat at a local farm. We don't use pesticides or fertilizers on our land, especially since we have a creek in the front yard that would carry the nasties. We cook as much as we can at home, we recycle.

We are also human and have to live within our community. Our kids have activities, we have jobs, we are in no way living the most environmentally friendly life, but we strive to do better each day.

For everyone who says they can't make changes, we are living proof that baby steps do get you somewhere. We are almost one year out from deciding to change our lifestyle, and I could not be happier with the progress. We will order more beef late in the summer, we will continue the CSA through fall, we will can all of our extra vegetables this summer, and I will preserve apples and pumpkins in the fall when we pick them. Baby steps, that is all it took, and I believe we are happier and healthier for it.

Lessons learned

We have had a busy day.

We went to Target for a few key items, then I took the kids to lunch, then out to pick up CSA and home to make more jam and get some of the berries into the freezer. It is much more difficult to complete all my tasks with all the kids home, but we still tried to make it fun.

I made 7 half pints of jam, and one full pint that will go straight into the fridge. I need to straighten the house, somehow whenever people visit it goes from perfect to trashed in just a few days :)

One big lesson I learned today, don't try to process all the berries while having the kids alone. Next year I will make sure Ryan is home to help, it takes a really long time when you have to keep stopping to get drinks, break up fights, etc.

Now I am off to vacuum the house and switch the laundry. Then on to making dinner, I think we will have chicken stir fry, quick and easy. The kids are clamoring for a strawberry shortcake, but they may have to wait until tomorrow since I just don't have the time or energy to bake a cake right now.

Off to clean!

Holding them close

Gray spent a few hours last night just talking to me. Now I love chatting it up as much as the next gal, but not at 2 am. He was so cute though that it made it hard to get mad at him. Finally after two hours, he went back to sleep and so did I!

The girls got up this morning and the fight over breakfast began....they all always want something different, and this is not a diner. They finally all agreed on french toast, and they came to the decision pretty quickly, so I dressed it up a bit and made stuffed french toast (cream cheese in the middle) with fresh strawberry compote. Yummy

Success and fears

First off, the reprocessing took and my jars are all sealed :) I will be busy tomorrow processing more berries.

I am planning to plant more tomato plants and think I will grow them upside down. I am hoping to secure some free buckets, and we will set these up in front of the playroom. I am quite concerned about the tomato plants in the garden, so this will make sure we have some for the summer. I also have a pepper plant that needs to go in the ground, and I am on the lookout for two eggplant plants to replace the ones that died in the floods. Tomorrow I will venture into the main garden to assess the damage and figure out what we lost.

On to the fears...
Everywhere I look I see articles on how bad things are. I see how my dollar doesn't stretch, and with three growing kids, we feel the pinch. I wish we could move to more land, it would allow me to raise hens and more produce, but alas, we can't move. I have found a place to purchase huge stores of flour, sugar and other grains. I am going to have Ry help me rearrange the pantry this week, and I will order the stores so we have them before they raise the prices. It may seem crazy to get 50 lbs of flour, but we cook from scratch a lot, and I want to always know that if pasta gets to be $4 a box, I can make it cheap at home. I also love to bake bread in the winter, and we have figured out a good place to for the bread dough to rise in summer, so I think we will make two loaves per week year round. Trying to keep the family in healthy natural foods is expensive, so I need to find ways to get the food we need, without emptying the bank account.

Canning 101

Today was my first attempt at canning. We have about 40 lbs of strawberries from Haven's party yesterday, and I have a family who LOVES strawberry shortcake and jam.

I decided to make some preserves today and it was my first time using my new canning pot. Everything went well until I tried to process the jars, the bottom of the pot started smoking a lot and there was all this residue being left on my stove top. I stopped processing and checked the bottom of the pot (that I had washed before use) and cannot figure out what the problem was. Right now I am trying to reprocess the four pints of preserves that I had in my large stockpot. I can't use my rack, but I am hoping I can get the jars sealed.

Tomorrow I plan to hull a few quarts of berries for freezing, and if all goes well with the new pot, I will pack whole berries and process as well.

Ryan seems to think we need more strawberries (scary I know) so if I get through these, I will take him with me to the farm and we will pick a few more flats (10-30 lbs) Maybe this year we will have enough berries to last us the year.

If anyone has any advice regarding the canning pot, I really could use it. I have a lot to do this summer, so I need a pot that works well :)

They grow up so fast!

My oldest, Haven, turns EIGHT today!!!

Where did the time go? It is like she went from precocious two year old to a big girl who is into music and clothes and horses. She is by far my most dramatic and entertaining child, and while it can be a bit much some days, she is often the source of our laughter and smiles here at home.

She is becoming quite the young lady, deeply compassionate for those who need help or just a friend. She can be an incredible big sister when she chooses to, and both Britt and Gray look up to her, and I know that if I need help, she will be right there to lend a hand. We love her deeply, and we couldn't imagine our lives without her chatter and pizazz!

Happy Birthday Sunshine-I hope your party is a blast!

Two minutes for lunch

I am on my two minute lunch break.

So far I have run errands, done course checks, ryan steam cleaned the downstairs, we replaced the toilet seat downstairs, i cleaned the bathroom, did the dishes, dusted the downstairs and did some laundry.

After this brief break, I will go clean out the dining room and mop it, scrub the kitchen counters and cabinets, dust brittan's room and clean the upstairs bathroom. I also have some work work things to do and a paper to write, need to make a treat for haven's class, cook dinner, and ry needs to steam clean the upstairs. Plus we need to plant the flowers I got yesterday in the window boxes and hanging baskets and haven has riding. So busy.

Girl fights suck

when they are your kids fighting.

Since getting home from school, my girls have been going at it. You have the usual suspects, yelling, screaming, dramatic expainations, door slams, and the occasional arm squeeze or slap. So much fun.

I have decided to just let them beat the crap out of one another. I usually try to settle things, but it doesn't help. Let it run its course I guess. Worst part is, they are going to wake their father up and he is going to give them hell. Tough way to learn a lesson.

Time Management

I am usually an excellent multi tasker, but with the gloomy weather and change in my schedule, I feel a bit off.

This morning I got some errands run, then a conference call. After my call I need to feed Grayson lunch and attack the dining room and kitchen, I also have at least 10 loads of laundry to wash, and three to fold. Tonight I have to run a call, and get the bathrooms and Brittan's room cleaned in anticipation of my parents.

Between all of the chores, my papers I need to write, conference calls and work, I keep having to switch hats quickly, and it is a bit overwhelming. Tomorrow morning I will go get the big steam cleaner, and Ryan has agreed to be the steam cleaning man while I dust and organize.

I am happily looking forward to Monday, the kids are home and I am planning a quiet day at home, and if the weather agrees with us, we will do some gardening and outside clean up.

The aftereffects of insomnia

I am tired, very, very tired. All in all, I had a productive day, even though it began with Haven in tears (I think she is ready for school to be over) and the afternoon was filled with Grayson melt downs (no nap and he has a fever, looks like an ear infection brewing) Gray and I did some clean up this morning and lazed a bit. We left home around 11 am, and went to the craft store to get supplies for Haven's party this week. Then we went to lunch and to the farm. I love that we know the folks at the farm now, they see my car coming and get the milk ready, they know my name and Grayson's name and they always look so darn happy to see us! We picked up some plants for the pots we are making for my mom as well as our milk order then headed over to Justice to get Haven a few outfits for her birthday. Then home to start making the candies, feed the family, vacuum the house, work, etc. All I have left for the night is to do the dinner dishes, wipe the table and run a conference call. Tomorrow morning I will get some flowers for the flower pots, a new ink cartridge and the index cards for the favors I am making. Then home to fold clothes, clean bathrooms and wash sheets. Thursday will be the big clean day, we are steam cleaning all the carpets, and I am scrubbing the rest of the house down to get ready for the family. Best part about tomorrow, husband is OFF so I have help!

Is it catching?

I think I caught Emily's insomnia! It is almost 1 am and I am so tired, but WIDE awake. I know I will pay for this tomorrow, gone are the days I could stay up all night and sleep all day. The kids will be up by 7 and we have a million and one things to accomplish, so I wish I could just fall asleep. I am getting quite the headache and just took some meds, so I am hoping that will help lull me into slumber.

Enjoy the bounty

Today is a much nicer day, the sun is shining, the ground is drier, and I am hoping that my plants pull through. Regardless, I will still be putting some additional seed into the ground, it never hurts to be prepared, and a second round of harvest would be a bonus!

Summer CSA began today, and as I expected, we still have a similar type of share as Spring. I love seeing all of the baby greens and we are especially enjoying trying various greens and things such as bok choy. Tonight we are having roasted veggies with orzo, a family favorite that I love as I can switch it up to meet what is fresh and new. Tonight we will have grape tomatoes (somehow I found organic and LOCAL greenhouse grown!!), baby carrots, green beans, onions, whole garlic cloves, radishes, yellow squash and zucchini. We have an abundance of fresh dill, so that will be tossed with the cut veggies and olive oil, and roasted until caramelized and delicious. Tossed with orzo and parm cheese, a healthy family dinner. Some other favorites we use are parsnips, eggplant, mushrooms and asparagus.

Tomorrow will be meatloaf (farm meat), noodle kugel (I have too many eggs!) and greens. Wednesday will be stir fry with the stir fry veggies and bok choy and chicken served with basmati rice. I love having more time at home!!

Smells delicious

I wish I could send everyone a whiff of dinner cooking here. It smells fantastic in my house, the beef is all cooked and shredded and melt in your mouth tender, and the beans are soft, sweet and a little spicy. The recipe I use for my pulled pork seems to work really well with beef too, this will surely become a new family fave.

I decided we needed a little rice to cut all that sweet BBQ, plus the salad for grownups and watermelon for kids. MMMMMMMMMMM!

Busy and rainy

So I haven't gotten as far today as I had hoped. I did shower (I know you were all worried) and made it to the store where I did very, very well considering the price of groceries. Dinner is cooking away, the homemade baked beans smell awesome, and after three more hours of cooking they will be perfect. I think I have enough to pack away in the freezer for another night, if the recipe is a success, I will can a few jars...beans are cheap and my family loves them. The BBQ beef is getting nice and tender, we will eat it on rolls withe the baked beans, salad and watermelon.

I finished the living room and I love it, very peaceful and relaxing. I still need to deal with the kitchen and dining room, but that can be done tomorrow. Tonight I will bake cupcakes so they are ready to frost tomorrow, I will write my paper, do the dishes again, and vacuum again. I need to run one more errand, and switch laundry, but I have enjoyed my relatively quiet day. Having dinner cooking means i avoid the supper rush, always a bonus in my world.

My poor garden is looking so sad. All of the rain has taken it's toll, and even though the sun is supposed to be out tomorrow, it is going to rain again Wednesday. As long as the plants I have left make it through Wednesday, we should be OK, but my poor little tomatoes look so limp, I lost half my beans, snow peas, cucumbers and squash, and all of my butternuts, potatoes and acorn squash. I am not sure what to do when the garden is so waterlogged, if this had happened a month from now, I would have been thrilled, but the plants were so small they have really suffered the lack of sunlight and the over abundance of water. All I can do is wait until the weather improves and go plant more seed to see if I can get new growth.

Off to switch clothes and run errands, hope the kids behave.

8:15 am

OK, so sometimes lack of sleep agrees with me, and sometimes it doesn't. I have been pretty unbearable to be around the last few days, I am even annoying myself, and I am sure a large part of it has to do with lack of decent sleep. Last night I went up to be around 11 which is early for me. Got up there and the litterbox stunk as husband hadn't cleaned it when he was up there. i cleaned the box, vacuumed up all the litter the kittens kicked out, mopped the bathroom floor and cleaned the vanity and mirror. By this point, Grayson was up and SCREAMING. Got him settled and went to go to sleep and the kittens were running wild, which includes attacking me in bed. Finally they settled at about 1:30 am and I think I fell asleep around 2 am. Then Gray was up again, then the cats were up again at 3:30 until almost 5 am. Went back to sleep at 5:30 and Gray got up at 6:30. I put in a show for him and told him to sit on the bed and be quiet, needless to say it didn't happen. This has become a pattern with the kittens and Gray.

I am sitting here and I am so tired it hurts to type. I have a huge list of things to do today and do not have the luxury to put things off. After I finish my first cup of coffee, I need to go finish the living room and then do the dishes. Someone is coming at 11 to take one of the kittens, so I need to shower, then I MUST attack the dining room and kitchen today, plus write a paper and do work, laundry, vacuum, go to the store and make dinner. In all honesty, I actually started dinner already, I am making BBQ beef and baked beans, so the beans need to cook for a really long time (forgot to soak last night) so they are already going. The beef will go in by 11 am so it can cook long and slow. All I should have to do around dinner time is make a salad and serve, which is a good thing as I am pretty sure I won't be able to function.

OK, I must drink coffee and get myself going.

Update on progress

So, the curtains are hemmed and the book case is built. The Living Room is still in a bit of shambles, but tomorrow morning I should be able to get all of that done. Switched laundry, vacuumed the house a few times, put out the new umbrella (need to get the furniture there too), chicken is cooking, grades are posted, shoe bench is sorted, daily work-work is done, dishes are completed and trash is out. I still need to make the sides for dinner, put away winter coats, mop the kitchen and family room floors, switch laundry again, plant the sweet potatoes and finish my paper tonight.

Tomorrow I need to complete the living room and wax the foyer. The dining room needs to be decluttered and scrubbed and I need to clean all the windows on the front of the house and steam clean. Plus I will have 3 or 4 loads of kids clothes to fold and put away. I am really hoping to have the whole downstairs done by the end of the weekend, that just leaves upstairs and general maintenance for the week. Good thing since I have errands to run Monday and Tuesday, need to get flowers, have work, and an interview and have to back cupcakes for Monday and Saturday, and rice krispie treats for Friday for Haven's birthday.

Time to clean

So we are in overhaul mode. I need to get the spring cleaning done, plus my parents arrive on Friday so I want everything done and ready for them. Today the Living Room is FINALLY getting rearranged and the book cases are going up. This will get rid of all of the clutter and also create a more intimate place to talk. I already hung the new curtains, but they are way too long so I am getting ready to hem them. Once that room is done, I will attack the foyer, packing away winter gear and going through shoes and organizing the kid bins. I also want to wax the wood in there, it is looking dull. I need both of these things done by the end of the weekend, along with steam cleaning the living room, upstairs and the playroom. I have to do grading and write a paper today and plan to make a lemon rosemary chicken for supper, plus the sweet potatoes need to be planted and I need to get to that trellis out back. The real question is, should be have roasted potatoes or rice with dinner? Decisions, decisions.

To agree with a wise woman

Mean people do suck.

Here is the thing, I am not sure who decided that it was okay to be as mean, nasty or rude as you want to be, but it is not. We put an ad up on freecycle offering two of the kittens and some jerk sent me an email with two links to get the cat spayed...not one other word, just the two links. I am sorry, but we adopted the cat, she would have been abandoned or worse, and she was already pregnant when we got her (we did not know this). She was spayed yesterday as we DO know how animals get pregnant, just as our dog was spayed as a puppy. The fact that this person assumed that I wanted their two cents or that I was so stupid I couldn't figure out how sex produces kittens just as it does children, amazes me. Needless to say, I sent back an email explaining that we adopted the cat and she was pregnant and just how rude I thought they were. In addition, I made sure to sign with all of my credentials, just to verify that I am not the idiot.

In addition, I am so not thrilled with the tirades of others. Just because you always wanted to hang with the popular kids in high school or the boy you liked didn't ask you to prom or you sat at the outcast table, PLEASE don't make the rest of us pay for it now, and please do not become the parent that tries to create the world you never had for your kid. You look like a fool and your kid will never learn two important lessons, 1 that they are fine the way they are without someone making a path for them and 2 everyone shouldn't do what they want, when they want, because it is really a pain in the ass to have to break that to a 20 year old.

Oh and one more thing, don't ever assume that you know what I mean or I am thinking, take my words for what they are, I don't beat around the bush or try to play nice. If you can't accept it, that is your problem, not mine.

Hurry up and EAT!!!!!

So I picked up our final Spring CSA and the first Summer pick up is Monday, so we need to eat the veggies this weekend. Tonight we will have grilled chicken sandwiches with salad, watermelon and potatoes. For Haven and I, I have some nice sauteed mushrooms for our chicken sandwiches, the rest of the family will probably just eat them straight or with lettuce and tomato. I have a lot of salad greens, good thing we love salad! I also have some beautiful scallions that I may stir fry with some of the veggies I have, maybe as a side for chicken...off to cook :)

Steak and Soccer

Tonight Brittan has a soccer game, but not until 6:45. I fear my kiddos will have a hard time with this since bedtime here begins at 7 and we won't get home until after 8. Thankfully, tomorrow I just need to get the CSA and try to fix the garden before the next set of rain comes in tomorrow. I am hoping that we didn't lose too much, Ryan's strawberries don't seem to be doing too well, a few squash plants are broken and I lost a row of lettuce. Thankfully I can replant the lettuce, we will have to see about the berries.

For dinner we had our first good steaks from the cow, we had already eaten some eye steaks and they were delicious, but tonight the T-Bones and Porterhouse came out. All I did was grill them, no seasoning, so salt and pepper, NOTHING and they were melt in your mouth delicious. Usually I prefer my steaks medium, but due to timing, kids, etc, they were more like medium well tonight and they were still tender and juicy. Em and I are putting in another meat order next week, hopefully we will have delivery mid July. This time we will be getting a half a cow (1/4 per family) and I am so excited to have all of this delicious and healthy food in the house. The last pick up for the Spring CSA is tomorrow, and the summer pick up begins on Monday, so we will be full of veggies.

There are always moments

I am sure people who do not have children, or who hear those of us with children complain, wonder why it is all worth it. Why we have more than one child and why we do what we do everyday. We do it for the moments, the light beams of happiness and joy, the funny little things that kids say and do, and those moments make the rough days not seem so bad.

A few highlights of my week.....

Grayson telling me that something was humonormous-a combination of humongous and enormous. Funniest said with a three year old's lispy language.

Haven telling me that "Someone must have had a cocktail" when I told her that someone said something that made me feel like a bad mom.

Brittan dancing a crazy little jig when she was excited about reading a word, the kid is all skinny arms and legs and it was hysterical to see her dancing like that.

Throw in the million I love yous and bear hugs, my son saying he saved me all his pink kisses (he thinks I love the color pink) and a few key moments of Haven and Brittan helping each other and their brother, and those terrible rotten days seem like the distant past.

We are still hoping to have one more child join us, maybe sooner rather than later, I guess time will tell. My kids were asked about the decision before Ryan and I reached a conclusion, and their sheer excitement about another sibling was astounding. While they might argue and fight, they also are the first to defend a sibling and the way they all help one another shows their deep love for one another. They can make me crazy, they have even made me cry, but when the day is done, I can forgive the sassiness (all of them have a tendency towards that) and the mistakes they make, and try to find the good moments to cherish. It is true, they grow up too fast and I hope that we can shelter and protect them as long as possible, I am not ready to share them with the world just yet...they need some refining :)

Standards

I think everyone has standards for their life, what they like, don't like and what they feel they can accomplish. Some think I set my bar very high, even Em and my mom will comment on it, and while that may be true to some, to me, this is just my personal standard for myself (and no Em I am not offended by the comments, I know you love me as I am, my mom, well....).

I have also been "accused" of having high expectations of others, most often morally. I admit that this is true, and I make no apologies for expecting people to make the best moral choice possible. I do not, however, expect anyone else to live their life in the same way I have chosen to live mine. My husband is a sitter and a relaxer, and there are a lot of days when my anxious energy has me pacing about stressed about what to do while he relaxes, and I wish I could do the same. I force myself to take one night off and to sit an watch a show with him, no computer, no reading a book while watching, and that is hard for me.

I also know that I am very happy living the way I do, it doesn't cause me nearly the same amount of stress that it causes others, although I do have rough days. The world needs all types of people, with different personal standards. I know that my husband's personality and mine make for a (more) balanced home life for the kids. So live and let live!

School's out

So schools are closed today I am guessing due to flooding. The rain that was supposed to pass last night just keeps coming and we are getting ready to build the ark!

Thankfully, my dear husband went out last night in the torrential rain to dig a trench around the house and used cinder blocks and bricks to divert the rain water away from the house. He also ripped the edging out of the side flower bed in the back to help drain water off of the patio. Next time I am mad at him, I have to remember he was out there digging in the rain to protect the house from flooding...good guy.

Now we just need to live through the day. My kids were home Friday since they were up all night during the Tornado Warnings and the flood, and now school is closed. What a bad weekend!

Fear and Loathing in Virginia

As many of you know, being a grownup realy stinks sometimes. Everywhere I look, I see things that frighten me, gas prices, employment problems, housing and the economy as a whole. Right now I wish I was still a kid, that I didn't have to be the one who worries.

That being said, I also know that I am lucky enough to be pretty secure. I have a good FT job, not to mention the steady PT gig. I have a PT tutoring gig on the back burner as I have an interview for another PT gig which is more up my alley and in my area of expertise. Ryan's company is so sorely understaffed, he could dance naked on the tables singing and still not lose his job. Even so I am worried, mostly because I feel trapped. I always felt like we could move if anything happened, we could always sell the house and be okay. Right now that isn't an option, and it makes me fearful. I know it will get better, I know that things will improve. I also know that we weren't planning on going anywhere for at least two or three years, and I am hoping we can just regain half of the value we had a year ago.

Sometimes being a grownup just sucks.

MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOOP

This rain must end. Looks like the wood floors in the family room are damaged from the flood, but not so badly that we need to rip them out today. I am still hoping that once they dry out that we can get them to last another year or two.

Right now the water is lapping at my back door, and we were just issued another severe flood alert, for here, in JUST our county. I swear I have never seen the name of my county on the news so much, were are usually just a small speck between two other areas.

Please someone, make it stop!

Gearing up for a busy day and week

This is my last week at PT school, but I still have a hectic week ahead. Today I need to focus on folding laundry and pushing through more loads. In addition, I have session end course checks for FT school plus my own final grades for them. The family room rug is still damp and we are expecting a ton more rain tonight. I am hoping we don't flood again!



Dinner will be chicken and dumplings with salad, I think we need the comfort of good warm food in our bellies before heading into a busy week. Tomorrow I need to see Dr. Tom and I need to get snack for the brownies. I work tomorrow night, last class and they take their final. Grades for that exam are due by 10 pm on Tuesday, so I will be grading all day Tuesday off and on-Em you may have to drive to the farm :) Thankfully, there is no soccer practice Tuesday, so I can concentrate on the papers I need to write and grading. Wednesday will be a welcome relief, no class, but Brittan has a soccer game and I have a conference call, all at the same time. We are in charge of snack, so I will pack it up and send Ryan and the kids off to the game so I can run my call from home. After that, just household stuff to do. I think next week i will start to paint my bathroom, I hate that room and have been waiting until we did the rest of the house before attacking it. This summer I also hope to paint the kitchen, both the walls and the cabinets, just to update the room a bit.



Well, I better get going. Fingers crossed that we don't flood again and that my garden makes it through!

Early Mother's Day

So we celebrated Mother's Day a bot early. The kids were supposed to have activities today (brownies and soccer) and thankfully both were cancelled so I didn't have to feel guilty about keeping them home.

They let me sleep in, and Ryan made me breakfast in bed...such a TREAT!!!! The kids gave me the presents they made at school and Ryan had bought a HUGE pot for the kids to decorate for me. The weather has been bad, so that will wait for a sunny day :) He also got a huge pot of Gerber daisies for me, all in shades of pink, which are my favorites. We will plant some pansies around the edge of the big pot once decorated and put the daisies in the middle and it will help fill the yucky space in front of the garage.

Ryan has had to go to bed since he works tonight, and cooking away on the stove is homemade tomato sauce (I cannot wait for our OWN tomatoes) and I am going to make meatballs and fresh pasta. Along with this we will have a big salad, a staple in late spring and summer around here. The best part of the CSA and our garden is, we are never at a loss for greens!

Husband kudos

So I am known to complain about the husband. Anyone who knows us knows we are not the world's best match. Different interests, different life choices, and both stubborn as hell. While he can make me crazy for days on end, I do love him and even though I won't admit it when mad, I know he loves me too. The life we have built is a good one, and while I want him to be more involved and more responsible, that just is not who I married. There are lots of times I am so grateful for him, and they out weigh the days I want to throw him off a bridge :)

Garden Update

Well yesterday I was thrilled to see some potatoes coming up, along with pumpkins, acorn squash and butternut squash. As that garden was a trial, I was so happy to see things growing. After the flooding and storms last night, it looks as though the potatoes may have washed out, I am going to give it a few days to see if I see any new growth, and then I will replant. The other plants in that garden look fine, and when we dry out a bit I need to go clear the debris and leaves.

The big garden is also doing well. My newly sown beans are coming up, so is the lettuce and the carrots. Some of my plants took a beating last night, the cukes and some yellow squash plants looked a bit ripped up, probably from hail. I think they will come back okay, the plants are fairly young and should perk up in the next few days.

Tornados and floods

Last night made for an interesting one around here. I knew we were set for some rainy weather, and then around 9 pm we went under a Tornado Watch. No biggie, that happens around here, and since Ryan was running out for a few things I asked him to get a much needed weather radio.

As we got into 10 o'clock, we went under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, in my world when that happens, that means the kids have to come downstairs. The main reason for this is we have a lot of very large, very old trees around our house, including one just behind the house up on the hill that would completely crush the house if it came down. Soon after the kids came down, we got the first Tornado Warning. Kids got to the back hallway in the house, and if need be, they move into our tiny little downstairs bathroom. It seems that there was a tornado from this storm just south of us, so I am glad we kept safe.

We made it through that warning and then the flood came, into my family room. Seems the rain came so fast it backed debris up at the fence gates. We are downhill from everyone else, so we get all of their runoff, so the water came flooding into my family room. Ryan ran to open the gate and in the process one side tore completely off. The water drained from the yard, and Ryan and I began to clean up the water and mud that had come into the house. Thankfully we got it all cleaned, although it took a few hours, and we were under another Tornado Warning during the process. The kids are home today since they spent most of the night sitting in the hallway, and we are all very tired, but OK.

Dinner tastiness

Tonight for dinner we are having stuffed chicken breasts, and the family is quite excited. I sauteed up some fresh greens from the CSA with some of their green garlic. We added feta cheese and stuffed into split chicken breasts which were drizzled with olive oil, sea salt and garlic. On the side will be jasmine rice and a mixed baby green salad from the CSA. We eat well here!

It's not easy being green!

I was very pleased to see information on educating the public on green growing techniques included in my weekly CSA newsletter. The farmer we get our produce from uses organic techniques, and as he explained, he was unhappy that a big home improvement chain was running advertising on having a green home and included a product by Bayer Inc. The product, which is in granule form, is still a toxic insecticide, only it is not a spray on product. The problem with this ad is that it perpetuates the concept that organic gardeners do not use spray on or other types of pesticide and that items that do not get sprayed on the plants are organic.

For clarification, organic farmers use insecticides which are approved by OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) and are derived from natural sources. Many of these are sprayed onto plants, but their purpose is to only kill harmful pests and to biodegrade efficiently and not kill off positive insects. The Bayer product, while not a spray on, is NOT organic, nor is it a safe product to consume. Please understand that organic is not about if food is sprayed, but what it is sprayed with.

Right now one of the main areas of research I am focusing on involves misleading green marketing. For example, Clorox sells their new Greenworks product as earth friendly, but what do we know about the production and waste products being produced? While the product itself may be "green" and within a consumer's home be a safe choice, consumers should also be aware of the consequences of producing the product. If the environmental cost to manufacture, produce and distribute the product is higher than the benefit of consumer use, how is this environmentally friendly?

I am hopeful that in the coming years there is legislation that requires a label to alert consumers as to how green a product is from start to finish. Many of the big corporations who are jumping on the green bandwagon would quickly fall off, and many of the small companies who are truly working to be environmentally friendly would see the success they deserve.

You all have to see this!!!

So I can't sleep, big surprise, I never sleep :)

So I am looking at what is on TV and come across a show called My Big Redneck Wedding on CMT. EVERYONE has to watch this show, it actually has be laughing, hard, out loud. I have the next four episodes set to tape so I can share this wonderful creation with everyone I meet.

Wednesdays are done!!

So almost all of the finals are graded for my Weds class, that only leaves Monday!!!

Tomorrow I will post grades, pick up the CSA and hopefully fold lots and lots of laundry. I need to find something to make for dinner, maybe stuffed chicken breasts? I am anxious to see what is in the CSA.

Need to breathe

So, if you get anything about me from this blog, you see I am a bit busy. I am just one of those people who needs to be crazy busy or I don't know what to do with myself. One nasty side effect of this is that I concentrate so much on task, that I pack other things away inside. One nice friend told me I compartmentalize my feelings, that even if my husband is being a hurtful jerk, I can put that in a little box and still get on with my day. I know this about myself, and I also know what happens when I have too many little boxes stacked up, I need to let everything out. One way I used to do that was I would draw or paint, in fact, it seems odd to me NOT to paint and draw. I wasn't in it for the end result, but for the process. I would blast music and get all of that emotion out, and I have to say that I have gotten through many tough and trying times this way.

Since having kids I stopped drawing and painting. I made a few futile efforts, but I never seemed to be able to find that place I needed, or the time, especially when the kids were really little. Husband suggested a few times that I set up in the garage, but it is messy and cluttered in there (his domain, not mine, hence the mess) and there are bugs and dust and dirt and it just seemed like it would cause more stress. I am getting ready to move my old table/desk out of the living room and put up bookcases. When I do, there should be room for me to put down a small tarp and set up an easel. While I can't blast music at night when the kids are sleeping, I can stick my ipod in my ears and turn the music up. I have such a horrible itch to get a brush in my hands, I have so much frustration and anger that has built up for years. I have sadness and joy and a range of emotions that I can't even comprehend. I hope that I can get this small area set up and that I can find clarity again.

Stupidgirl

So there is a blog my friend and I read (no one we know personally) and we have dubbed this woman "Stupidgirl" The main reason for the name is that I have never in my life seen someone whine so much about things she chose to do.

This woman is older than I am, educated, single, owns a home, and just bitches and complains about how hard her life is. Here's the thing, I have more going on in my life and I don't think it is so hard. Hard is not having enough money to feed your kids and pay the rent. Hard is having a chronically ill child and no insurance to pay for meds and care. Hard is having no education or skills and being trapped in an abusive relationship. These scenarios are real for many people, and while we can sit on our high horses and say that they could have gone to school, made different choices, etc., we must also know that the choices we have made dictate our lives.

I have challenging days, and yes sometimes they are strung together. My kids make me angry and the husband makes me livid, but day in and day out, my life is pretty damn good. I have choices, lots of choices, and that is not a luxury available to the masses.

So Stupidgirl, quit your whining, get out of the house and find some way to give back, maybe then you will see how good you have it.

Not to be an alarmist..

but does anyone feel like everything is going to hell in a handbasket?

Between the economy and talks of pandemic outbreaks, I am a bit on edge. It could be my natural tendency to worry (I did freak out at age 6, convinced that my parents would die in a car wreck...REALLY convinced) or it could the media is breaking me down, or it can be that my college boyfriend was smart to live with one foot into paranoia.

So, I plan to make sure we are ready, just....in....case.

We all know I am going to be a canning freak, and that I live most of my life stockpiling things (food, paper towels, etc) the mud room. Usually this is because I am cheap, um, frugal, but now I think I will add things like batteries (which I never have) and other necessities to my group.

So if we were hit with a big pandemic, I figure Em and her kids could just move into my house with me and my stores, and that my PT job would be closed down because who would keep a college campus open in a pandemic? My other job is virtual, so the kids and Em and I could stay completely inside if needed, although we might go crazy, and not have to go to germy schools or stores.

The husbands would have to go to work, so they could stay at Emily's house and that will minimize the risk to us and the kids. Hell, we can stay holed up in that house for at least six months the way I have it, we may not have fresh fruits and veggies, but we will still have food and all of things needed. Well I guess the husbands could leave needed items outside the door and after an appropriate time, they could be moved into quarantine (the food, not the husbands, they can't come in at all)

OK, on to the escape route......

What have you been up to?

Well let me share my day so far.

We got up at 6 am thanks to Grayson, and we were early to drop the girls off at school. Britt went prepared for her Cinco de Mayo party with a sombrero and maracas!

Gray and I hightailed it to see Dr. Tom, then to the store to get stuff for snack for the girl scouts. I have to say, I can really see the increase in food prices, it was crazy how little I got for my money!

We came home and I worked on the gazillion course checks I had to do, I answered emails and with about 10 course checks left, I decided I had to get out of the house again. As it was Cinco de Mayo, I decided Grayson and I needed to be festive and eat Mexican, and Em and the girls joined me :)

After lunch, Gray went to play at Em's, I stopped and grabbed a few things at another store, came home and finished the dreaded course checks, got the snack together for the girls scouts, vacuumed, straightened up, switched laundry and did the dishes. Now all I have left is to make dinner and go to work. On the bright side, this is my second to last Monday night class this session, and this Wednesday is my last Weds class this session. Then I am on summer break, well at least from PT school :)

Dinner plans

On the agenda tonight for supper is Grilled Chicken Alfredo. The family loves Alfredo, and I don't make it often as it is quite bad for them, but I decided I would make it tonight. I already made the homemade fettuccine, and I have to say that aside from having to clean up the flour, it is so easy to make and tastes so much better. My recipe(and you will see it is simple) is below.

Fresh Pasta
2 cups flour (or11/2 cups white flour, 1/2 cup wheat flour)
2 beaten eggs (farm fresh of course!)
1Tbls olive oil
teaspoon of salt
water as needed
chopped herbs of choice(basil, oregano, thyme all work well..very well grated garlic does too)

Mix flour and salt in a bowl, make a well and add eggs and oil to center.Mix together with a fork and add water as needed to get a dough ball. Turn onto floured surface and knead herbs in, use flour as needed to make a smooth dough. Let rest 10 minutes. I then cut off 1 x 3 inch chunks that I pass through the pasta machine on setting one. Once all the dough has been put through, stack two or three strips and pass through again at stage one, folding over on it self and putting through two or three times. I then usually have three or four big strips. Cut each strip in half and pass through the pasta machine up to setting 5 and then cut into fettuccine. Boil and you are done :)

Adventures in Canning

This year is the first time I will be really trying to preserve as much food as possible for winter. With rising food costs, the damage that importing food does to our environment and the effect that corporate farms have on local farmers, we will be growing as much as we can, plus we will be getting produce from the CSA and other local farmers.

In preparing for canning, the first will be the strawberries we will pick for Haven's birthday, I need to get the supplies together. I have a canning pot, but need more jars and all of the other bits and pieces, so I am considering just ordering another full set up so I can run two pots at once. My plan is to use one pot for sterilizing, the other for canning. In the summer, I hope to dedicate one day per week to canning, hopefully processing two or three different items that day. For example, if I am doing tomatoes, I will do sauce, stewed tomatoes and paste all on one day. This will be quite the adventure, and I need to get on Ryan to add more shelves for storage. I am hoping to get us through most of the winter, although we will also plan to cold frame the lower tier of the garden to grow root veggies and greens, and if I have my way, we will have tomatoes and green beans growing under a light in the garage.

Start the day off right

So after a rude awakening by my children before 7:30 (note to self, explain to kids that I am not getting out of bed before 8 in summer) I came down and made them breakfast. It is now 8:30 and Haven and I will be heading out to finish the trellises and water the gardens. I am anxious to see real growth, within a few weeks we should have some solid plants and be able to see what will and what will not grow. Fingers crossed!

Mother's Day Muck

So my husband works the night before Mother's Day and on Mother's Day as well. So I ask him if we are doing anything and his response is that he suggested something (that was celebrating the week after?) and I shot it down. He then said that I should help him think of something...FOR REAL?????

I am sorry, but it is not my job to come up with a plan to celebrate Mother's Day, for god's sake I plan everything else (usually my birthday as well) can't he plan ONE THING...especially as a way to celebrate all I do???? I am so mad right now, put in on the list of one more time that he shoves crap off on me and doesn't appreciate anything I do.

A note about dinner

Getting dinner on the table with three clamoring kids is an ordeal. Those of you with kids can relate. When they are still too young to get their own food, and they still need you to cut up their meat, dinner is a bit of a pain. For example, tonight we ended up having London Broil, sauteed potatoes and onions and coleslaw. I started dinner at 2:30 by shredding the cabbage and making the coleslaw so it had time to sit in the fridge. At 3:30 I made the marinade for the meat (garlic, herbs, balsamic vinegar and oil) and got the meat marinating. At 4 pm I diced the potatoes and started them boiling. From that point on I had to drain the potatoes and saute some onions, then added potatoes and herbs and crisped them up. Grilled the steak and let it rest. When it came time to serve at 5:30 I still needed to set the table and make the kid plates, and after dinner I cleaned up, did the dishes, vacuumed and wiped the table. And that was just dinner :)

Feel the momentum!

God I love this weather, I think it is the first true spring we have had since we moved here 9 years ago. The sun is shining, windows are open, and I feel hopeful that the many tasks that need to happen, will.

Britt had a soccer game this morning, and she did really well, although I would like to see her a bit more aggressive. Afterwards, we ran to the store for a few things, and then home to put them away :) Ryan stakes the tomatoes and beans today, and I will net them this evening or in he morning. Laundry needs to be switched, the house needs another vacuum and I need to do some work. Dinner tonight will be the London Broil I didn't make last night, some jasmine rice and homemade coleslaw.

Off to enjoy the beautiful day!

Another busy day

It must be spring since I can't stop moving. Today I got the girls off to school and then Emily and Maggie came by. We visited for a bit while Ryan put the new light up in the foyer (hurray) and then we sent Emily home to get dressed and kept Maggie to play. I did the dishes, laundry, vacuumed, steam cleaned and generally straightened up. Em brought back lunch and Killi and we weeded the front flower beds and I planted the herb seeds. Vacuumed and did the dishes again, made the kids sugar cookies, grabbed our three kids and two neighbor kids off the bus and had a nice afternoon. Everyone left and my family and I attacked the absolutely disgusting, horrific playroom which has been long overdue for an overhaul. A few hours and one dinner break later, I headed to Goodwill with 6 bags of toys and now am enjoying knowing that the playroom is spic and span!

Tomorrow Britt has a soccer game, and I might leave Ryan and the other kids home to trellis the garden and do a few other things.

I love being productive in spring!

Long and frustrating

I had a really long day. Girls got ready for school, took them and walked in the door to the house where Grayson had just peed all over the bathroom. Cleaned that mess up while husband watched, did some work, loaded the dishwasher, vacuumed and then took Gray with me to pick up the CSA stuff. Left the house angry with husband because he wasn't helping out. Came home and dropped Gray and the CSA stuff off (husband had done 1 thing) and went back out to get groceries. Did very well at the grocery store, which made me happy given how hard it is to feed a family of five good, healthy food. Brought groceries home, got dressed for interview and got ready to go. Went to interview, which was more of a "tell us when you want to start/be put on the schedule" filled out forms and realized my license was at home. Hightailed it home, got license and went back so tutoring place could make a copy. Went to target and bought a million boxes of cereal, paper towels, etc (and again did really well cost wise) and came back home. Started the roast chicken for dinner, vacuumed the house, straightened up the kitchen, worked, cleaned all of the greens from the CSA, made stuffing and corn muffins and dealt with a few work issues. It is now 5:40 and I know I still have work ahead of me, which makes me mad since I always try to keep Thursdays as quiet nights. Tomorrow I need to get into my garden and make sure the peas are growing well. I also need to go get 1 x 2s to make the trellis for the pole beans, and I need to get cages for my tomatoes and new herb seeds (which I will plant tomorrow)

I am just tired of working so hard everyday, while husband barely does anything. The one thing I can say about myself is that I am one hard worker, and I will do anything I need to to help my family. Since the inception of this family, I have worked many, many jobs. I have given up on being home with my kids at times to earn a living. I have worked multiple jobs, sacrificed all I could and kept pushing through school, just to make a life for them. As I near the end of school, only a year left on classes plus a year of dissertation, I wonder how I will view things. Will I want to stay in a marriage where I have been busting my ass for 10 years? Will I need to keep working as hard as I do? I guess time will tell.